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This story will be updated throughout the day Friday and Saturday. Check back for latest game developments.
3:30 p.m. Saturday: Briggsdale dashes Redskins’ championship hopes
The Lady Redskins dropped their semifinal match against Briggsdale 15-25, 21-25, 15-25. Here are photos of the action (photos by Geri Ugolini-Craddock):
11 a.m. Saturday: La Veta beats Genoa-Hugo in straight games:25-19, 25-21, 2-22.
On to 2 p.m. semifinal vs Briggsdale. Here are photos of the action vs. Genoa-Hugo (photos by Geri Ugolini-Craddock):
From top to bottom: Lexy Guadagnoli and Aryanna Flores celebrate a wining serve; Mary Goins sets the ball; Coach Amber Huff rallies her girls near the end of the match; Desirae Ortivez goes up for the kill; Aryanna Flores goes in for the dig; Nya Sciacca, slams one home.
10:10 p.m. Friday: Genoa-Hugo beats Sangre de Cristo, will face La Veta Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
Genoa-Hugo came out on top of a grueling five-game match against Sangre de Cristo, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12. The game was originally slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. but schedule delays put the match back by more than an hour. The final point was not scored until after 10 p.m.
But the number-three ranked Genoa-Hugo won’t get much chance to rest, as they square off against the Lady Redskins at 9:30 a.m. in the third day of tournament play at the Denver Coliseum.
Merino’s Brooke Mertens squares off against
two La Veta defenders. Photos by Geri Ugolini-Craddock
Friday afternoon: La Veta drops match to #1 ranked Merino, will face Sangre/Genoa winner
The Lady Redskins dropped their Friday afternoon match with the Merino Rams 19-25, 22-25, 22-25, setting up a marathon Saturday in which they may well face the only two opponents to mar their otherwise perfect season.
At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, La Veta will square off against the winner of the Friday night match between Sangre de Cristo and Genoa-Hugo. That game was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., but got off to a late start. As of 9:45 p.m. the match stood at 2-2. After losing to La Veta in season play, Sangre de Cristo got the better of the 
Redskins in the district tourney, handing the Redskins their first loss.
If the Lady Redskins come out on top of their morning match, they will play a 2 p.m. semifinal against number-six ranked Briggsdale. The winner of that contest will go on to the state championship game at 6 p.m., quite possibly against Merino, which so far has lived up to its #1 rank.
Should that happen, La Veta will have to come up with a strategy to overcome Merino’s Brooke Mertens, whose sizzling kill shots and brutal defensive net play spelled the difference in what was otherwise a very close contest Friday.
In game one, the two teams traded points to 8-8, when the game was stopped to straighten out some ambiguity among the referees regarding a substitution. After the lull, Merino began to pull away behind some aggressive net play by the Rams and mid-court struggles by the Redskins. Merino saw its lead grow then evaporate several times, but La Veta couldn’t manage to pull past the Rams in the end.
The remaining two games were tighter in score but similar in dynamic, with Nya Sciacca, Emalee Ortibez and Desirae Ortivez providing the power punching up front, while Lexy Guadagnoli and Ortibez put the Rams on their heels with a string of strong serves.
In the end, however, it was not quite enough.
Thursday: Grueling match sets the stage for Friday game against #1 Merino
By Mark Craddock
Regardless of the sport, when it comes to high school state tournament play, all bets are off. It doesn’t much matter who beat whom by how much back in September. It’s all about the moment.
It’s all about mistakes and momentum. Too many of the former will cost the team the latter. That was a dynamic on display Thursday as the La Veta Lady Redskins ground their way through two opening matches, besting Wiley in straight games before winning a grueling back-and-forth five-game match against Fleming.
During regular season, La Veta beat fleming in straight games. Such is the nature of the state tournament.
In the 9:30 a.m. tourney opener, La Veta topped the Wiley Panthers 25-10, 25-15, 25-17, behind big hits by Nya Sciacca and Desi Ortibez and a team serving average of 92.1 50 added three kills and 18 spikes on the way to a kill average of percent.
Sciacca racked up three kills and 16 spikes for a kill average of 53.3 percent, while teammate Ortibez added three kills and 18 spikes for a kill average of 50 percent.
Things got more complicated in Thursday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Fleming. The Redskins and Wildcats fought for every point, sweated for every volley, scratched for decisive momentum which was never truly seized by either team. It was what one might expect from the number-four and number-five ranked teams in the state.
In the end, the Redskins ended up on top in five games – 25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-13.
Friday afternoon, La Veta will face the number-one-ranked Merino Rams for a berth in Saturday’s semifinals.
